Amy Williams' blog by Amy_Williams

Both selection races have been completed, selection onto the World Cup team has been made, and now I’m sat in my hotel room waiting for the first official training days to start for the 2011-12 season of the FIBT Skeleton World Cup. It’s taken a long time to get here, the busy summer of training plus the actual process of getting back onto the ice at the start of October in Lillehammer has been quite stressful. Competition is the toughest I have ever known between our British athletes, but this is a great sign and it’s an exciting time ahead looking to the results we’re capable of producing. The first World Cup race takes place in Igls, up the hill from the city of Innsbruck.

Yesterday I flew in from America where I had been for the past five days, four days of which were spent on the ice doing a bit of equipment testing and trying new things out with the sled. It didn’t quite go to plan as I had some sled problems that I couldn’t fix on my own, and with no sled technician with me that week, it proved quite challenging! Fortunately I’ve been reunited with the technician here in Igls, so I can get Arthur fixed before the first race – I think he was just being a bit stroppy with me! I have a few days off before the first official training day which should help a little to get over the jet lag and help best prepare me for race week where I’ll train for 3 days, that’s 2 slides a day, and then race.

This means that in effect we have 6 slides to learn the track and what lines you think are the quickest. It’s hard to achieve consistency when the air and ice temperatures have the capacity to deviate over the course of the week, so sometimes I can still be attempting a new line on race day if I think it will be quicker! Off the track I actually had the chance to attend the Top Gear Live show in Birmingham a few weeks back, in between packing and unpacking! What great fun it was, I was involved in part of the show where a race track had been made up for all different makes and model of cars, old and new. I was the star in the reasonable priced car, and with a live leaderboard, I raced my way around to try and beat whoever else was there.

I got a few practice laps with The Stig, but then the race was on, and a bit like my skeleton races, there wasn’t quite enough time to perfect every corner! Maybe The Stig can come and walk down the skeleton track with me one day and see what he thinks the fast line would be!! Back to being in Igls and I have a morning off today, so I’ll go to the gym later and do a strength session, and then Arthur my sled will get some attention when I meet up with the technician. So until then I am going to get the bus down into Innsbruck and have a look around the market stalls. I’m sure all the Christmas things will be out, I may even start my shopping, because this might be my only chance!